The Savings Lab.

The research reports.

Each report is a census of the tracked network, computed from first-party capture: the hourly rate check behind the merchant reference pages and the coupon-policy classifications taken from each merchant's published terms. No competitor or third-party data is used anywhere in the program, and no report rewrites public information. Rate-index editions are dated and append-only, so change-over-time reporting stays honest; a factual error in a published report is corrected with a dated note, never a silent edit.

The methodology is category-parameterized on purpose: the travel index is the first vertical cut, and the same pattern re-runs for fashion, electronics, and other verticals as their coverage matures.

How these numbers are produced.

Every statistic on this site lives in one verified dataset, maintained by the ShopBack editorial team from company reporting. Pages read from that dataset; no number is typed by hand into a page. If a figure changes at the source, it changes everywhere at once. Two rules hold without exception: every per-merchant cashback rate we display carries a visible "rate checked" timestamp from an hourly check (the binding rate always lives on the store's page at shopback.com), and we never publish invented benchmarks, averages, or "best month to buy" claims.

Verified network statistics.

Put the numbers to work.

For original per-merchant rate data, the US Cashback Rate Index publishes a dated snapshot of headline cashback rates across every merchant tracked on this site: average, spread, category breakdowns, and movers between editions.

For destination-level travel data, the Destination Booking Coverage Study: 2026 Edition measures how much of a typical trip itinerary can be booked through ShopBack partner sites, recomputed from the destination dataset on every build.

The data pairs with the other two layers of this site: the How Cashback Works explainer for straight answers and the guides for the smart-shopper playbook. The editorial policy spells out the verification rules in full.